In the furniture industry, residential and office furniture is often separated into two distinct markets. Typically, residential furniture is designed and marketed towards comfort and aesthetics while office furniture is designed and marketed to enhance business productivity and comfort while working at a computer station or desk. More and more, however, people are working from home and current furniture options fail to reconcile these two distinct furniture markets to account for the needs of the professional working at home.
Moreover, the widespread use of personal electronic devices has more people connected to a host of devices more often, for longer periods of time, and for a variety of purposes. No longer are personal electronic devices used exclusively for business or educational purposes. Personal electronic devices have become integrated into every part of a person's life and are used for personal pleasure as well—from reading books (e.g., e-readers), to interacting with others on social media networks, to playing video games, as well as watching movies and television programming online. Consequently, personal electronic devices are often used many hours a day by the user, including those times when the user is relaxing in the comfort of their own home.
To enhance a user's comfort, tables and platforms have been devised to assist the user when using a personal item while sitting in furniture. Current solutions, including existing adjustable platforms for use with furniture, are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,293,751; 7,862,111; 6,773,060 and 8,079,553 as well as U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2011/0017105, and each have myriad shortcomings.
For example, some of the existing devices are designed for adjustment to either the dimensions of the furniture or the user, not adjustable to fit both the furniture and the user. What's more, in considering the existing devices which are adjustable, those devices tend to require complicated adjustment systems having unnecessary moving parts and pieces, which tends to complicate the device, makes it less reliable, harder to produce without any accompanying benefit, and less attractive when used in the home with existing furniture. With some devices, the user may have to affix the device to an article of furniture with unsightly straps and/or bolt-and-screw like attachment systems. Accordingly, a need exists for an adjustable platform for application to an article of furniture that is adjustable in multiple directions to accommodate the dimensions of the user and the furniture, durable, easily installable, and stylish.